


UNIVERSITY BULLETIN 

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY 

Published by the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical 
College at Baton Rouge. Issued monthly except November and December. 

Entered December 22, 1909, at Baton Rouge, La., as second-class matter, under 
Act of Congress of July 16, 1894. 

VOL. VI— N. S. JULY, 1915 No. 7 






AUTO-STEREOPTICON 

AND 

MOVING PICTURE MACHINE 

For Extension Service in Rural Schools. 



BATON ROUGE 

Ramtkes-Jones Printing Compant 
1915 



Monograph 






NP 



V v 



LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY 

DEPARTMENT OF 
JUNIOR EXTENSION AND HOME ECONOMICS. 



E. S. RICHARDSON, 
Superintendent. 

W. H. BALIS, 

Assistant Superintendent ; 
in Charge of Boys' Pig Clubs. 

P. L. CUILBBAU, 

State Inspector of Agricultural Schools. 

MISS ALICE S. KEELER, 

Assistant in Charge of Cirls' Canning Clubs. 

M. G. OSBORN, 

Secretary and Editor of Weekly Press Bulletin. 

J. L. HIERS, 

Assistant in Charge of Boys' Corn Clubs. ' 

E. 0. EDSON, 

Assistant in Charge of Poultry Clubs. 



EDUCATIONAL MOVING PICTURES IN RURAL SCHOOLS. 

For many years people engaged in educational work have 
recognized that in moving pictures there are tremendous possi- 
bilities for giving instruction and disseminating information. To 
some extent they have been utilized for that purpose in the cities 
and larger towns where electricity for lighting is available ; but 
the difficulty of producing these educational pictures in the rural 
districts where they are needed most and where they can do the 
greatest amount of good has stood in the way of getting the best 
results from this method of instruction. Agricultural extension 




CUT No. 1 

LEFT SIDE VIEV^, SHOWING MACHINE READY 
FOR OPERATION. 

1. Tool box. 

2. Extension cable. 

3. Showing tin case for aluminum screen. 

4. Curtains. 

5. Motion picture film in position. 

6. Motion picture machine. 

7. Rheostat showing resistances connected in series. 

8. Box containing electric fan and other equipment. 

9. Motion picture reels in position. 



workers, particniarly, who go out into the state and work among 
the boys and girls, as well as among the adults, have felt the need 
of such assistance as moving pictures and stereopticon slides 
could render them in their lectures and demonstrations. 

Some months ago the plan of using the automobile for the 
purpose of producing light for moving pictures and lantern slidesi 
in the rural schools and communities suggested itself to Professor 
E. S'. Richardson, of the Junior Extension Service of the Univer- 
sity, and he immediately set to work to put this idea into prac- 
tical operation. With the assistance of Dean T. W. Atkinson, of 
the College of Engineering of the University, he has perfected 
an arrangement whereby the engine of the automobile op(;rates a 
small electric generator which furnishes ample light for the pro- 
duction of moving pictures and slides. A long, flexible, insulated 
cord is used to convey the electricity from the generator on the 
car on the outside to the interior of any schoolhouse or other 
building in which pictures may be shown. (Cut No. 2.) This 
machine has proved to be entirely successful and satisfactory, 
and it has been demonstrated beyond a doubt that this method 
of doing extension work is altogether practicable. 

SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE WORK. 

During the first seven months of 1915 the Junior Extension 
Service of the Louisiana State University visited one hundred 
and forty schools in seventeen parishes and rendered programs 
with the auto-stereopticon and moving picture machine to an 
estimated attendance of 23,340 school children, school patrons 
and farmers. About one week was devoted to each parish. 

In addition to several reels of educational pictures, there 
were shown at each school stereopticon slides depicting the vari- 
ous phases of corn, pig, poultry and canning club work. These 
slides were accompanied by lectures explaining the meaning of 
the clubs and the valuable training they offer to the boys and 
girls on the farms. An increased interest in the club work has 
been manifested in each community in which these lectures have 
been given, and they have been very effective, also, in acquainting 
the people of rural districts with the efforts their State Univer- 



sity is making to assist them, through its extension service, to 
solve the problems that confront them in their farming pursuits. 
It is the intention of the Department to keep the car in the 
field continuously and to visit in the next few months every 
parish where demonstration and club agents are employed. 




CUT No. 2 

SHOWING MOVING PICTURE MACHINE IN OPERATION IN 

INTERIOR UPSTAIRS ROOM IN RURAL SCHOOL. 

1. Cable leading to auto. 

MACHINE USED FOR COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS. 

In addition to its use in the production of moving pictures 
and lantern slides, the current generated by the electric motor 
oi this machine may be utilized to provide heat for cooking 
demonstrations. An electric cook stove has been added to the 
equipment of the automobile and successful cooking demonstra- 
tions have been made. This feature is expected to prove an 
important part of the extension work in home demonstration. 
Cooking by electricity is not to be emphasized, but the apparatus 
will afford a convenient and ready means of producing heat 
for cooking demonstrations. (Cut No. 7.) 



DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CONNECTIONS. 

The automobile is equipped with all the apparatus necessary 
for giving moving pictures and stereopticon views and cooking 
demonstrations in rural communities and schools where elec- 
tricity for lights is not available. This includes a direct current 
electric generator which furnishes current for these purposes. 




CUT No. 3 

VIEW OF GENERATOR LOOKING THROUGH RIGHT 
REAR DOOR OP AUTOMOBILE. 

1. Left rear door of automobile. 

2. Generator. 

3. Belt. 

4-7. Angle iron foundation for generator. 

5. i-\nglo iron for carrying t^haft bearing. 

6. Set screw to tighten belt. 
S. Floor of automobile. 

9. Opening through which wire from generator leads to 
switchboard. 



The generator is mounted upon angle irons across the middle 
of the automobile behind the front seat and just below the floor. 
The generator is belted to a pulley on one end of a shaft which 
runs parallel to the car and under the floor. On the other end of 
this shaft there is a rawhide gear which engages the gear on the 
fly-wheel. (Cut No. 4.) These gears are thrown into and out 




CUT No. 4 

LOOKING FROM TOP OF FRONT SEAT, SHOWING 
RAWHIDE GEAR AND PLY-WHEEL OF ENGINE. 

1. Sliding key in shaft. 

2. Shaft. 

3. Rawliide gear. 

4. Shaft bearing. 



of mesh by a lever which extends up through the floor on the 
right-hand side of the car and in front of the operator. Cut 
No. 5.) 



The generator capacity is 8.8 amperes at 125 volts. The main 
switch, fuses, ammeter, voltmeter, and shunt field resistances are 
placed on a switchboard in a box on the running ooard of the 
automobile. (Cut No. 6.) The three wires from the generator 
are connected through the frame of the automobile to the switch- 
board in the box. (Cut No. 3.) The only operation necessary 
to connect the generator is to throw the sliding gear into mesh 
with the flv- wheel. (Cut No. 5.) 




CUT No. 5 

LOOKING THROUGH RIGHT SIDE OF HOOD 
SHOWING GEARS IN MESH. 

1. Foundation for bearing bolted to engine bed. 

2. Sliding rawhide gear. 

3. Fly iwheel of automobile. 

4. Bearing. 

5. Lever for sliding moving rawhide gear on shaft. 

6. Grease cup. 

7. Collar on end of shaft. 

8. End of shaft. 



A reel is mounted in one end of the switchboard box, upon 
which is wound 175 feet of theatre cord. One end of this cord is 
connected to iron flanges on the end of the reel. (Cut No. 7.) 



The current is conducted to these flanges by sliding contacts 
screwed to the side of the box. The cord may be wound or un- 
wound while transmitting the current. 

A full current capacity of 8.8 amperes is required to give a 
good light. If a resistance small enough to' permit full load 
current to flow across the arc were used, then the amount that 
would flow when the carbons were short-circuited in making the 
arc wouM overload the machine. 




CUT No. 6 

SHOWING LEFT SIDE. 

1. Waterproof box for motion picture macliine. 

2. Box containing 175-foot extension cable. 

3. Box containing electric switchboard. 

4. Curtains for windows. 



In order that the full current capacity might be used two 
rheostats of 13 ohms each are connected in parallel, either of 
which will let through about 8.8 amperes under 110 volts, or about 
4.4 amperes when the arc is made. (Cut No. 7.) A snap switch 
is placed in series with one of these resistances. "When the arc is 
to be made the switch is opened and then closed, permitting about 



10 

8 amperes to flow through the arc. The resistances are placed on 
a small hoard and are connected in series with the arc lamp. 
When the arc is to be broken for any purpose, the current is 
switched through one of the resistances across the line. This is 
done because the engine has no governor; otherwise, the engine 
would "speed up" and the voltage become excessive. The rheo- 
stats are carried in a compact box on the rear of the automobile 
when traveling and when in use are placed in easy reach of the 
operator. 

The moving picture machine is carried in the automobile in a 
compact wooden box (Cut No. 6) and is mounted on top of the 
case when in operation. (Cut No, 1.) 

OTHER USES OF MACHINE. 

Lecturers and educators can use this machine for producing 
current to give illustrated lectures and moving pictures for any 
educational propaganda. It furnishes a medium for advertising 
by moving pictures and lantern slides on the streets of the city or 
in rural districts. The apparatus can be used as a complete elec- 
tric lighting plant for country homes, fishing parties, excursion- 
ists, etc. The current can be used for making cooking demonstra- 
tions and for picnic parties, etc. It can be used for a traveling 
moving picture outfit in rural territory where electric current is 
not available. 

If the efforts of the field agent in extension service are going 
to produce the maximum of results, his lectures should be sup- 
plemented by slides and pictures, as these will greatly aid in 
leaving a lasting impression in the minds of his auditors. In the 
classroom at the college or university the professor, by constant 
repetition of subject-matter, finally establishes in the minds of 
his students the desired facts ; but the extension worker has only 
one hour in which to accomplish this. When the hour is up he 
must move on and keep moving, so large is his field to cover. We 
are speaking primarily for the state agents, though this applies, 
also, in a large measure, to the parish agents. When the extension 
worker can bring to his aid stereopticon slides and moving pic- 
tures illustrative of the facts he wishes to impress, his efforts are 
many-fold more productive, and his lectures become entertaining 
as well as instructive. 



11 

SCHOOL OFFICIALS ENDORSE WORK OF MACHINE. 

Parish school superintendents and other rural school workers 
are very enthusiastic over the results of the visits of the educa- 
tional moving picture machine in their communities. In every 
instance there has been an increased interest in the club work. 




CUT No. 7 

OPERATING ELECTRIC STOVE AND BROILER. 

1. Cable leading to stove. 

2. Box containing switchboard and cable. 
.3^ Rhc-ostat and connections. 

.;. Food cooking in oven. 

5. Broiler. ., , i 

G. Alotion picture machine detached. 

The parents as well as the boys and girls have been awakened 
to its practical value. 

The following are extracts from some of the letters received 
by President Boyd from superintendents, and are typical of 
expressions from many others. 

"As you may know, I have had the pleasure during the past 
week of accompanying members of the University J^^^^.^ ^^^^^^J 
sion Department in a tour of a part of this parish with their 
auto-moving picture outfit. During this time we have visited 



12 



fifteen schools and spoken to over 2,500 people, mostly boys and 
girls. AVlien I returned from this trip I found letters from 
teachers who had classes that wanted to join the various indus- 
trial clubs. This I consider to be the direct influence of these 
lectures, and I do not see any other way by which the same good 
could have been accomplished." — Superintendent E. E. Lyons, 
St. Tammany Parish, .\iarch 15, 1915. 

"It gives me pleasure to report to you that during the last 
ten days the junior extension work of the University has reached 




CUT No. 8 

RIGHT SIDE VIEW. 

1. Box containing electric fan for operator and other eciuipraent. 

2. Heavy curtains for darliening school room windows. 

3. Tin case for aluminum curtain, fastened with universal joint at back end. 

4. Waterproof box for lantern slides. 

5. Box for motion picture film. 



almost 1,000 school children in this parish. The educational pic- 
tures shown represent the first real contact between the Univer- 
sity and these young people. This is the beginning of sowing of 
seed in the minds of these boys and girls from which we expect 
to reap a harvest in later j^ears. This form of extension work is 
proving, very effective in our parish." — Superintendent C. M. 
Hughes, East Baton Rcuge Parish, February 16, 1915. 



13 

' ' The people throughout the parish who saw these educational 
pictures were not only pleased but found them very profitable. 
Our school board was so pleased with them that they saw fit^to 
purchase a picture machine for our demonstration club agent. ' ' — 
Superintendent J. M. Barham, Avoyelles Parish, June 3, 1915. 

' ' From Tuesday until Friday of last week it was my pleasure 
to accompany the University Junior Extension force while they 
were visiting schools in this parish with the educational moving 
picture machine. During this time I had ample opportunity to 




CUT No. 9 

OUTFIT READY FOR TRAVE-LING. 

consider this work from every viewpoint and to hear the people 
of this parish express themselves concerning it. I am glad to say 
that I have heard nothing but the highest praise and commenda- 
tion. We feel that very important and helpful lessons are taught 
in a very impressive manner and in the least possible time." — 
Superintendent D. H. Stringfield, Washington Parish, April 13, 

1915. 

Mr. E. S. Richardson and his assistants, Mr. Balis and Mr. 

Guilbeau, have just completed a tour of Calcasieu Parish with 



14 

the moving picture outfit. I wish to express to you and your 
department our appreciation for this work. I attended all the 
meetings held in this parish with one exception. At practically 
all points we had more people than anticipated and a conserv- 
ative estimate of the total number of people attending these meet- 
ings is twenty-three hundred. At no place did the machine fail 
to work and at practicallj^ all places leading people of the com- 
munity expressed themselves as highly gratified with the pic- 
tures and lectures. In my opinion, this work marks a new era 
in the extension movement." — Superintendent F. M. Hamilton, 
of Calcasieu Parish, July 13, 1915. 

I certify the following to be a true and correct copy of a 
resolution passed by the Police Jury of West Baton Rouge Parish 
at a meeting held March 3, 1915 : 

Whereas, Mr. E. S. Richardson, Mr. P. L. Guilbeau and Mr. 
W. H. Balis, of the Junior Extension Department of the Louis- 
iana State University, have recently made a tour of the schools of 
this parish in the interest of the boys' and girls' agricultural 
clubs; and, 

Whereas, the illustrated lectures of these gentlemen were 
heard, with pleasure and profit, by our school children and by 
large number of our people ; therefore, be it 

Resolved, by the Police Jury of the Parish of West Baton 
Rouge, that we hereby most heartily endorse the work of the 
Junior Extension Department of the Louisiana State University 
and that we especially endorse the plan which has been adopted 
for carrying to the school children of this state information which 
will interest them in better agriculture and in the betterment of 
rural conditions; and, be it further 

Resolved, that we congratulate the authorities of the Louis- 
iana State University upon the adoption of this plan which, we 
are confident, will be of great benefit to our children and to our 
state. 

This was carried by a unanimous vote of the Police Jury. 

P. J. Whitehead, 
Secretary, Police Jury. 



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